Modern Mining February 2021

COVER STORY

Key takeaways  In October 2019, ArmCoil Afrika was awarded a contract by a large mining house to completely remanufacture a 6 MVA 33 kV/6,6 kV mobile skid substation  Despite the COVID-19 challenges, the unit was delivered to site in December 2020 after a year and two months of work  The project was a collaborative effort between the mine, ArmCoil and Schneider Electric, which supplied one of the major components of the mobile skid substation, the Premset  Working hand in hand with a large OEM of Schneider’s stature to deliver such an immense project for a massive mining house was a big achievement for ArmCoil Bosch adds that the ability to manage the procurement of com- ponents from various suppliers and being able to interface them with ArmCoil’s own products was also a great achievement for the company. “We procured from various suppliers and integrated the various components into a mobile skid substation. For a transformer manufacturer to build something like this, utilising our own facility and leveraging our relationships with the various suppliers, is quite impres- sive. You would expect us to specialise in transformers and motors only, but we have gone beyond our core to pull off a full solution for the mine,” concludes Bosch.  The project was a collaborative effort between the mine, ArmCoil and Schneider Electric. Flagship project Bosch says the project will be remembered as one of the flagships in the history of the company. He doubts if there is any single local company that can handle a project of this nature in-house from start to finish without outsourcing some of the functions. “This is a niche mar- ket, traditionally dominated by large, established international OEMs. We are proud to have been one of the first local medium sized entities in South Africa to successfully manage and execute a project of this magnitude,” he says. Working hand in hand with a large OEM of Schneider’s stature, in conjunction with Schneider’s project manager, to deliver such a massive project for a giant mining house was a “big achievement for ArmCoil”, says Bosch. “We are a medium sized South African business, and having the opportunity to work hand in hand with a large global OEM such as Schneider speaks volumes of our abilities. It also afforded us an opportunity to learn from them. To build an enclosure for Schneider’s Premset was a huge achievement for us as a business.”

February 2021  MODERN MINING  11